Thursday, December 4, 2014

SERGE LUTENS FLEURS D'ORANGER

Something which amuses my husband to no end is what happens to me when I am in any place which happens to sell perfume. He describes it as a "trance" - I fly through the store with the determination and narrowed focus of an Amazing Race contestant. Even a "can I help you?" from a sales assistant feels like a massive roadblock. Don't worry, I'm always polite if I need to decline their assistance - retail is tough enough as it is without having bratty customers inflicting their moods on you. But truthfully, I think perfume taste is so highly individual that what one person finds intoxicating, another thinks smells like fly spray (Chanel No.5, I'm looking at you!) Only we can know what we like and what we're comfortable with. Kind of like when I go clothes shopping and a girl with 7% less body fat and 10% extra length in her limbs than me tells me I should try on the same buttock-revealing shorts she is wearing because they're her favourite item in store right now. Half of me wants to hug her for thinking such an item might remotely suit me; the other half questions whether that is really even the case or if she's just egocentric. Now, I hope you'll not think that this very blog post is hypocritical; I'm not trying to tell you what's good for you; just that if you like the same kind of perfumes as me, you might like this one. At the moment all I care about is white flower fragrances. I am in my element because my gardenia bush in the backyard is (figuratively) on fireright now. The jasmine at the front of our house is about to swallow the whole neighbourhood, and I've got a big bunch of freesias blasting it's perfume around the kitchen/living/dining area. But the very, very best white flower fragrance in my life right now is Serge Lutens Fleurs d-Oranger.

Now, let's not pretend I am anything resembling a perfume critic, so I'm going to cut and paste the review from Lucky Scent, which I think captures the fragrance and its connotations perfectly:

"In a word: masterpiece. There is no other way to sum up Fleurs d’Oranger. This is truly a legend in the Lutens line, the fresh yet decadent scent of an orange grove in full bloom, blossoms falling like rain as a warm breeze swirls the petals in the air. The heady and sweet scents of orange blossom, white jasmine and tuberose are highlighted with a hint of citrus and enhanced with just the tiniest wisps of warm spice to create a perfume that is ever-changing and, once you live with it awhile, you begin to sense its ultra complex nature. Fleurs d’Oranger is a floral fantasy that is even more beautiful than any amount of flowery prose can hope to relay…it’s a rare fragrance that could be worn every day and you’d never tire of it. Gloriously feminine, Fleurs is not “cute” nor is it cloying or overpowering…it’s pure French elegance meets a wild romp in an orange grove, a dream of a perfume that will make you close your eyes, breathe deeply and just…smile."What fragrances are you into right now? Tell me, tell me!